Chapter 98:

Even though she initially protested, Cuddy ended up realizing that she needed the day off.

House stayed at the house, taking her blood pressure every three hours as he was requested to do on Parker's orders. Her BP had gone down significantly since the visit that morning.

His team had gotten a case, so House was on the phone, as the four of them went back & forth discussing symptoms and possible diagnoses.

"...Okay, let me think of that...okay, bye," he replied, before disconnecting the call. He looked over at Cuddy who was sitting on the couch reading a book, her legs curled up underneath her.

"So you got a case," she said.

"Yeah."

"So go in." She looked over her book at him.

House shook his head. "They don't need daddy."

"Greg, I'm fine. You don't have to watch me every ten min-"

"I was ordered to take your blood pressure," House interrupted her, calmly. "And I will do that."

Cuddy rolled her eyes, as she went back to reading.

"If your team starts calling you every half hour, then you should go in."

House stood up, grabbed his cane that was leaning against the arm of the sofa, and headed into the kitchen in search of food.

Cuddy waited until she was sure he was in the kitchen before pulling her phone out from behind her, and checking her hours' worth of emails.

"You better not be checking your phone!" House called out, as he opened the refrigerator door.

Cuddy smirked. "I'm not!" she lied, as she scrolled through the unread emails with her finger, weeding out the important ones.

Suddenly, House came up behind her and grabbed the phone out of her hand.

"Hey! " she cried out, turning around.

"You're not supposed to be checking work emails," House replied, simply.

Cuddy glared at him.

"And don't look at me like that," he continued, as he pocketed her phone and went back into the kitchen to finish heating up the leftover dinner Cuddy had made the night before.

"The place is not going to burn down!" House shouted. He came back in the living room with a plate of food. He noticed Cuddy was still glaring at him as he sat down.

"And there's no way I'm going back in because you'll just start working again..."

"Will not!" Cuddy replied stubbornly. She stood up. "I'm doing laundry. Do you have any?"

"You just don't be in the same room as me...and Joe told you to relax."

Cuddy raised an eyebrow. "For me, relaxing is not being at work. You know that."

She turned to walk down the hallway towards the bedroom, exaggerating the sway in her hips just a little bit, purely for his added benefit.

House chuckled and went back to eating, shaking his head in amusement.

House ended up having to go into work for a few hours to assist his team with their case. At the house, Cuddy managed to get all of the laundry done, answered some emails (without telling House, of course) and cleaned up around the house.

She spoke with Jeffrey Stockton at Michigan, and they confirmed to meet at the University the following week for a few days, so that Jeff could seriously talk about the offer for House to lecture for their department, and to show the two of them around.

"We'll put you up in a hotel, and then once the semester starts in the fall, pending his acceptance, we'll put Doctor House up in an apartment. Completely paid for. It'll be his when he comes here for monthly lectures."

"Wow, you guys must really want him," Cuddy joked. "Paid expenses, paid apartment..."

Stockton chuckled over the phone. "The guy is a genius. Everyone is excited, " he told her.

The two of them talked for a short while longer, and then after confirming they would fly out the next week, Cuddy disconnected the call and went to check on the laundry.

At the hospital, House was in the clinic, willingly seeing patients.

"What, I'm bored," he told Cameron, who called him out. "And you guys are supposed to be running tests on our patient. So...that leaves me...here...in the clinic..."

"I'm just surprised, that's all," Cameron replied.

Grabbing the file sitting on the counter, House ignored her and headed into Exam Room Two.

"I think I have influenza or bird flu," the middle-aged man sitting on the exam table said, as soon as House entered the room. "I'm tired, and I'm coughing and sneezing all over the place, and -"

"You have a cold, you idiot!" House replied, staring at him as he stood there, leaning on his cane, looking incredulous.

"Unless you've been around chickens or ducks recently."

"But-"

"Stop reading Web MD. You're fine."

"- I could have pulmonary fibrosis!"

"You're an idiot!" House stared at him. "It's a cold! Go home and sleep it off. Chug some NyQuil."

He limped out of the room before the man could say another word.

"Jesus," he muttered as he shut the door. "Moron."

A voice called out his name. "House!"

He turned and saw Wilson walking toward him.

"Wow, you're actually doing clinic hours?" Wilson said, smugly.

"Oh shut up," House told him.

"Or are you hoping that translates to sex later?"

House raised his cane threateningly. "Don't let me use this on you," he warned. "Half the people in here are morons."

Wilson chuckled as the two men ventured down the corridor away from the clinic.

"You think everyone's a moron," Wilson reminded him.

"...Is Lisa coming in?"

House shook his head. "No." He lowered his voice. "Joe told her to take the day off."

"Ah, overworking?"

"Something like that."

"So, why are you here?"

House shrugged. "I have a case."

"So, why are you willingly doing clinic hours?"

Shrugging again, House said, "Better than sitting around waiting for test results."

Wilson smirked. "Yeah, but you're willingly down in the clinic. Like out of your own free will..."

"Oh shut up," House replied, annoyed at Wilson's persistence. "Cuddy told me that if I had some free time, if I could help out in the clinic, okay?"

"And you do what she says?"

"Well, yeah, because I'm sleeping with her...that, and she's knocked up with my offspring..."

"Ah, yes," Wilson remarked. "Because if you don't do your clinic hours, you know, no sex for House..."

"Will you shut up?"

They were interrupted by Cuddy's phone.

"You took away her phone?!"

"Well, yeah, she wouldn't stop checking it every five minutes," House replied, as he turned the ringer to silent without looking at the I.D.

Wilson chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. "You think that's going to stop her?!"

House didn't say anything, and just scowled at him as he pocketed the phone.

"Cuddy told me about Michigan," Wilson said, as he and House went over to the drink cooler. "Are you going to go?"

"If she told you about it, then you know I said yes," House told him.

Just then, Wilson's pager buzzed, and he looked down at it.

"Crap. I gotta go."

House waved him off with his hand.

"Sorry."

"Go save a cancer patient."

Once Wilson had gone, House grabbed a bottle of water from the cooler, before heading back upstairs to the third floor to see if his team had found anything interesting with their 49 year-old patient.

Around five o'clock, House returned home. Their patient had been started on doxycycline for a bacterial infection that his team was still trying to figure out, and since Foreman and Cameron stayed to run additional tests and to monitor the patient, House found no reason he had to stay at the hospital.

As he pulled into the driveway, his cell phone rang. Thinking it was Cuddy, he was going to ignore it, but he thought better, thinking it might be his team, and answered it instead. Without bothering to look at the caller I.D. he brought the phone up to his ear.

"What?" he answered impatiently.

"...Gregory?..."

"Oh, hi mom, sorry."

"You shouldn't answer the phone that way!" Blythe scolded her son. She softened. "How are you?"

"Sorry, mom. I thought you were - never mind...I'm fine. Just busy with work and stuff."

"How's your shoulder?"

"Fine. I've been doing PT." He left out the part where he had also been trying to strengthen his leg muscle. His mother did not need to know that yet.

"I'm glad, honey. How's Lisa?"

"Did you call me to ask about my girlfriend? Or did you actually want to see how I'm doing?"

"Greg! No, of course not! What, I can't ask how the both of you are doing?!"

"...She's good. Tired..."

"When is she due again?"

"Ten weeks, so in May," he told his mother, as he let himself out of the car.

"I want to come and see you two before the baby comes."

"Sure. I'm probably going to Michigan next week or the week after, so maybe after I get back?" He opened the door and let himself into the foyer, kicking off his sneakers and tossing his keys on the counter.

"Why are you going to Michigan?" his mom asked curiously.

"Oh, I got offered a part-time lecture position in the fall at the University."

"Really? That's wonderful, honey," Blythe replied. "But that's a lot to take on, especially that you have your job at the hospital."

"Well, I am shagging my boss, so I'm pretty sure I'm in the clear."

"Greg!" his mom scolded.

"What, it's true!" he defended, as he sat down on the couch, and put his feet up, welcoming the chance to get off his feet, as his leg was aching.

"It's just...you shouldn't be taking on that much responsibility, especially in the upcoming months," Blythe reminded him.

"I can handle it," House replied.

He felt Cuddy come behind him, and rest her hands on his shoulders, as she started to massage the muscles.

"Anyway, what have you been up to?" he asked his mom.

He covered the mouthpiece. "It's my mother," he told Cuddy.

"I joined a bridge league down at the country club here. All the women seem really nice."

"That's great, mom."

"Gregory, your sarcasm is evident through the phone. If you want to know how I am doing, please don't respond in sarcasm."

"Mom, I'm happy for you, Really, I am." He turned to Cuddy, who was wearing her white bathrobe, and his eyes traveled swiftly down to what he could see.

Covering the mouthpiece so his mother could not hear him, he growled in a low voice, "Now what are you wearing under there, Dr. Cuddy? I'm sure hoping nothing."

Blushing, Cuddy swatted his arm. "Your mom, Stop it," she mouthed, pointing at the phone, but was grinning nonetheless.

House tsked. "You're no fun."

"...Greg?..."

"Oh sorry, mom. What?"

" I was saying, you and Lisa should come down visit me in Charlotte this summer. There's so much to see and visit."

"Yeah, sure."

"I miss you son."

"I miss you too, mom." He stood up. "Okay, I have to take a shower. It was nice talking to you, mom...Here, I'm sure Lisa would like to talk to you."

'Okay, bye, Greg. Love you."

"Love you too, mom." He handed the phone to Cuddy, and limped down the hallway towards the bedroom, as he listened to Cuddy excitedly begin to talk to his mother.

Ten minutes later, House heard the shower door open, and he opened his eyes as he stood under the showerhead.

"A little warning would have been nice," he said, as he eyed Cuddy, who had just stepped into the shower with him, after disrobing.

"Oh sorry," she replied, sheepishly as she smirked, "I'll just...leave..."

House grabbed her arm. "Not so fast," he growled. "C'mere."

"You," he continued, as he positioned her in front of him, " need to take a shower and get clean first."

He sudsed up her loofah and began running his hands down her naked body, as the water from the showerhead cascaded off her.

His hands caressed her breasts, moving down to her belly, as he caressed every inch of her, making sure she was clean.

Cuddy's eyes fluttered closed as she felt his gentle, warm touch against her skin. She softly gasped at the hypersensitivity of her nipples when House gently ran his thumb across them.

House touched his lips to hers, repeatedly kissing her, as they both stood together underneath the water. His left hand moved down to cup her hip bone, as the other hand reached around with the loofah as he gently washed the back of her neck with warm soapy water, slowly traveling down her back.

Once he was done washing her body, House turned her around, lowering the showerhead so that it wasn't spraying against their backs. Cuddy placed her palms against the shower tile as she faced the wall.

House moved behind her, pressing his body against her backside. Reaching around, he rested his hands on her bulging belly as he leaned forward, lightly kissing her neck.

"Hi," he whispered in her ear. His mouth traveled down towards the side of her neck, as he planted light feathery kisses on the wet skin.

Cuddy moved her hands to rest on top of his on her belly.

"Is your leg okay?" she asked, concerned as she turned her head to look up at him.

"Yes." He moved his hand from her stomach downwards, cupping her pubic hair, letting it thread between his fingers before moving his hand toward her vagina. Kissing the back of her neck, he murmured, "I still don't know what I did to deserve you."

Cuddy chuckled softly. "You're still questioning that even after you knocked me up?"

"Fair point." House slowly began to finger her.

Gasping, Cuddy let her head roll back, closing her eyes as she felt herself slowly begin to lose control. House's finger was slowly flicking her clit. She pressed her palms firmly into the shower wall to keep her balance.

House leaned his head over hers, and kissed her on the lips. She opened her eyes to look up at him.

"I guess I'm all clean now."

House chuckled. "I guess so," he replied, as he continued to play with her clit.

"Mhmm, you're so wet, Lisa," he moaned, glancing down at his erect cock.

Cuddy took a short breath. "Fuck," she whispered.

Stopping, House gripped her hips with both hands, and slowly entered her from behind.

As he thrust into her, House closed his eyes. "God, Lisa, you feel so good!" he groaned, as he continued. He grinned as he listened to her accelerated breathing and knew that she was getting close.

"Fuck, Greg," she whimpered as she began to reach her peak of orgasm. "Don't stop."

House held her as she climaxed, wrapping his arms around her chest, as he continued to pump into her. She took her hands off the shower wall, and grabbed onto his biceps.

"That was definitely worth it," House leaned down and whispered in her ear.

Cuddy placed her hand on the side of her belly as she felt her son kick. "I think he enjoyed it too," she joked.

Releasing her, House stepped out of the shower with a towel after shutting off the water, and turned to assist Cuddy in doing the same. As he gave her body a lingering once over, he grinned.

"I think I'm getting hard again."

"Oh stop," Cuddy replied, as she dried herself off, and wrapped the towel around her body.

"Well, that's one way to relax," House chuckled, as he grabbed his cane before heading into the bedroom.

Later that night - House/Cuddy residence:

The shrill ringing of the house phone woke House from a deep slumber. House glanced at the clock on the nightstand, which read 12:47 AM before turning on the lamp and grabbing the cordless phone from its cradle from the nightstand.

"Hello?" he spoke groggily into the mouthpiece, silently cursing whoever was at the other end.

Cuddy stirred from beside him

"House? It's Karen Simmonds, on the hospital's Board. I'm really sorry to call this late, but I need to speak with Lisa. It's urgent. I tried her cell, but she didn't answer."

"Yeah, hold on." He rested the phone against his shoulder and rolled over.

"Lisa?" He gently shook her awake.

Cuddy groaned tiredly. "What?"

"Karen Simmonds is on the phone. She needs to talk to you. Says it's urgent."

Rubbing her eyes, Cuddy slowly sat up with a groan and reached for the phone from House's outstretched hand.

"Karen, what's up?" she spoke tiredly into the phone.

"Lisa, I'm terribly sorry for the late call."

"It's fine."

"Mark Leonard was just brought in. They think it's a stroke, maybe a blood clot."

"Shit," Cuddy replied.

If she wasn't awake a few seconds ago, she certainly was now. Mark Leonard is the hospital's CFO.

Swinging her legs out of bed, Cuddy sat on the edge, the phone up to her ear as she listened to what Karen was telling her.

"And it doesn't look good. Tara says he's not really responsive." Karen paused. "She wanted to me to call you."

"No, thank you. Thank her for wanting to call me," Cuddy told her sincerely. She pressed her palm into her eyes as she slowly began to wake herself up.

"I'm coming in," she told Karen, "Give me twenty, twenty-five minutes. Text me where you are. Who is the neurologist on call?"

"Some new guy."

Cuddy groaned."Perfect."

"Does the ER know it's our CFO?"

Karen chuckled. "They do now."

Disconnecting the call after a few moments, Cuddy remained sitting on the edge of the bed, and slowly ran a hand down her face.

"What's wrong?" House called out from beside her.

She turned to face him. "The CFO was just brought in. Might be a blood clot or stroke. They aren't sure yet." She stood up.

"You're not seriously going in, are you?"

Cuddy looked at him. "I have to." She went into the bathroom to wash her face, before he could say anything more, and then got dressed in jeans and a sweater.

Pulling her hair back in a ponytail, she looked at House, stifling a yawn with her hand. "Don't wait up."

"It's almost 1 AM," he told her

She exhaled. "Greg, I have to go in." Her phone buzzed on the nightstand, and she walked over to grab it.

Karen had texted her where they were.

"Don't wait up," Cuddy said, as she sent a text back to Karen. She looked up from the phone at him.

"I might need you. Make sure the phone is by you."

"I'm going back to bed," House replied. "Don't stay there too late."

"I'm making no promises on that one."

And with that, Cuddy left the house and headed to the hospital at 1 AM to see what was going on with Mark Leonard, the hospital's Chief Financial Officer, hooping it wasn't as bad as she thought.

TBC...